Pls help me. the xp setup does not start automatically caldera dr dos opens only I have set the BIOS setup to boot from CD first - but still I end up with Caldera DR-DOS. I currently have Vista Home edition installed - I wanna remove it and install XP Pro - which I am unable to. Any help on how to install XP back in my sys? P.S: I have no idea on how Vista works and my HDD is not formatted yet.
Alot of the reason is because they don't want you to down grade from Vista to XP. But see if this helps. Start your pc, insert XP disk, as soon as the screen comes up press f12 which will allow you to choose the booting sequence, click CD- ROM and the disk should start to be read. understand this tho by downgrading you will have a hard time finding the appropiate drivers for most of your devises since they were meant to be runned by Vista. Here's a tip go find the drivers in europe (be it toshiba.europe, Dell.europe) for they are still running XP. to find the drivers for your particu;ar pc just find the series number and the last unit to run with xp and viola a working xp on a vista pc. Hope this helped
Good Luck =)
Put in the real window xp cd and not the one labeled xp that actually has Caldera DOS on it.
1. Check your BIOS to be sure your computer will boot from a CD.
Enter the BIOS setup by pressing the "Delete" or F2 or "F12"
key, or as directed at the startup screen, immediately after booting. Set the
first boot device to "CDROM" or "DVDROM" instead of
"hard drive" if it isn't already.
2. MS-DOS command prompt
Insert the Windows XP installation CD into your CD or DVD drive
and restart the computer. When prompted, choose to start from the MS-DOS
command prompt with CD support. The MS-DOS command prompt will appear in a
moment.
3. Start SMARTDRIVE by typing "SMARTDRV" at the DOS prompt
and pressing enter. You don't have to run SMARTDRIVE, but copying the files
will be much quicker if you do. The computer will display the DOS prompt again.
4. Enter "CD I386" at the DOS prompt to change to the
directory where the setup program starts.
5. Enter "WINNT" at the prompt to start Windows XP setup.
The installation program will copy files to your computer and then display a
message requesting to reboot.
6. Press the "Enter" key to reboot. The setup program will
start again and check that your hard drive format is compatible with Windows
XP. If not, it will guide you through partitioning and formatting the drive and
then ask you to reboot once more.
7. Press "Enter" to reboot. The computer will restart in Windows XP mode and automatically start the Windows Setup Wizard to detect your hardware and finish the installation.
1,665 views
Usually answered in minutes!
Hi LJJKKK,
Let me put more light on the scenario. I have been using Vista Home Edition all this while and now I wanna downgrade to XP Pro. So in order to do so, I changed the BIOS settings as : CD-Drive to be the First boot device - but when I try to restart my computer, I do not see the usual Win XP Setup Blue Screen - instead I get this Caldera DOS - installing some drivers and end up displaying A:
from there I am able to work only on DOS commands and I have no idea about how to format my existing C: (which contains Vista installed) and install XP Pro.
I hope this answers your question. So, do let me know if you have any solution to this.
P S :
Gambit3Rogue : FYKI, I have tried your suggestion also - change the boot sequence from HDD to CD-Drive but still the same result.
Bandscherer : FYKI, I use a genuine win xp cd but not sure from where I got to the Caldera Screen. BTW, do u have any idea about what is this Caldera all about? Also, can you help me in installing Win XP from the point where I get the A: on my screen (Caldera)
Provide some info on your computer: desktop, laptop, Vista on CD, Vista instal from hard drive partition (if no CD). If you continue to get Caldera (a graphic interface to Linux) DR-DOS prompt A: type in C: and see if you have that drive availible from DOS. if you do, type dir to get a list of files on C:. Let me know if there is a file called FDISK.EXE or FDISK.COM
If you have Vista Home installed on you hard drive and a Windows XP in your CD drive, where does Caldera DR-DOS come from? How do you have Vista Home on your hard drive if your HDD is not formatted yet? I'm LOST! If the Caldera DR-DOS is on a floppy in your computer then remove the floppy.
×